>> by all appearances, it was a status quo election, returning us to the division of power; obama in the white house, democrats in control of the senate, republicans of the house. but appearances can be deceiving, and in this case are. the most important reality of the election is that the republican effort to oppose anything and everything proposed by obama -- almost like a parliamentary party -- was not rewarded. the taking the debt ceiling hostage was not rewarded, calling the obama health care plan which was their own only a few years earlier socialism was not rewarded. that was not they have to begin to rethink themselves and, importantly, democrats will not automatically embrace the same tactics in opposition. so i think that was an important change that creates a new dynamic not that's going to solve our problems. there's going to be no sitting around the campfire in washington making nice to one another. but the possibility now exists for a real effort and a successful effort to deal with our most pressing problems. >> two familiar washington faces, thomas mann and norm ornst